2023 Ocean leaking roof fabric

[Corgimajor]

So the issues with our brand new Cali continue. After having to have a brand fridge fitted as the original never worked, we have now discovered that a seam in the roof fabric leaks water when it is raining.
Yesterday was the first day away in the van, when we have encountered rain. Whilst sat looking forward, I noticed water dripping onto the seats. When I looked up, water was running in all along the seam that runs along the bottom of the semi circle window (photo attached). The ledge at the bottom where the light switch is was soaked with water. My local van centre have stated that there is a £320 charge for investigating water ingress, which will be payable if the issue isn’t covered under warranty (I’m pretty sure it will be).
Has anyone else had issues with leaking bellows on an Ocean 6.1 with the new fabric?

View attachment 108249

Sorry to hear about your ongoing problems. I've seen a lot of replies to your post recommending wetting the canvas / applying sealants etc. and none of this advice can be found in the owners handbook (California Supplement). All this says (page 13) is "close the pop-up roof if there is a strong wind or strong wind with driving rain".

If I was a dealer (or part of the VW legal team - and I'm playing devils advocate here) I would ask what the weather conditions were when the observed leaks occurred. If you did experience strong winds and driving rain prior to the Ingress of water then they might argue you should have followed the instructions in the owners handbook and by not doing so invalidated any warranty claim.

These pop-roof bellows are not natural cotton canvas, so the advice on wetting them prior to exposing them to rain is outdated, if it was required it would say so in the handbook, it doesn't. The bellows material is a modern water resistant man made fibre. I've no idea what the performance of the material is with respect to its hydrostatic head (some on this forum may know), but it is unlikely to compare with high performance materials found on most family tents these days (which aren't designed to be taken down in high winds and driving rain). Hence the guidance in the handbook to drop the pop-up roof in extreme wet and windy weather conditions.

I'm sure however VWVCs and VW National Customer Services should treat your case with some level of self interest, after all this is the very latest version of their pop-up roof bellows system and anything that looks like it is failing on it (notably this front seam) needs to be treated seriously and with a large dollop of goodwill.

Good luck with your claim.

 

[I feel camping]

Hi guys, same story with our Ocean 23.
Seems like a serial error to me. Has to be something with new material our new manufacturing process.
We will see what the dealer has to say.
Not the first post I was hoping to write on this forum.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

No seam will be 100% waterproof unless its also taped on the inside (similar to a winter wetsuit, heat tape is applied to the inside, and a liquid rubber seal applied over the external seam to prevent a cold flush). The older fabric would expand when wet so helped to seal needle holes.

Water will always eventually find a way through the needle holes. One of the issues might be the large front window as the more seams you have, the greater chance of leaks. The tighter the fabric, the more pressure you put on the seams when the roof is open. Also the seams on the front look to run long the horizontal...might have been better to have a slight slope on the seam to help the water disperse.

Best bet is to apply a waterproofing product focusing on the seams, as the fabric itself is not the issue. Only problem with doing so is that VW may refuse a later warranty claim due to use of a waterproofing product.

 

[oliver100]

I was all set to order a new van as our 2020 t6.1 ocean is approaching 40k miles and wanted to get a new one before production stopped as the figures stack up quite well currently. Bit put off by all these stories of leaking canvas now though, ours has been leak free in all but the most extreme prolonged storms and thought the new double lined canvas would be even better

 

[I feel camping]

In our case, there was a leak at the front and also at the bottom seam of the right window.

 

[Jeaniethecali]

Hi guys, same story with our Ocean 23.
Seems like a serial error to me. Has to be something with new material our new manufacturing process.
We will see what the dealer has to say.
Not the first post I was hoping to write on this forum.

It's not great on a £70k+ vehicle is it.
You'd expect better.... well I certainly do anyway

 

[RockinNRollin]

I would be inclined to ask the dealer to fire a hose at the roof with it up before collection on a new vehicle to check for leaks as part of the delivery inspection (and include leaving the roof up for a few days to check for uneven/extreme sag), given the number of issues we are hearing about. That said, people seldom make a noise about anything that works as expected, so it would be interesting (but difficult!) to know how many people have 2023 year vans WITHOUT any issues.

 

[WelshGas]

As far as I am aware and have been told, there is No PDI ( Pre-delivery inspection ) regarding the camping side of the vehicle. They do not test camper 12v or 240v systems, fridge, Parking Heater, 12v electric sockets, inverter roof hydraulics etc, etc.
They only PDI the base vehicle.

 

[RockinNRollin]

As far as I am aware and have been told, there is No PDI ( Pre-delivery inspection ) regarding the camping side of the vehicle. They do not test camper 12v or 240v systems, fridge, Parking Heater, 12v electric sockets, inverter roof hydraulics etc, etc.
They only PDI the base vehicle.

That's pretty shocking if that's the case; a significant proportion of the operable "bits" of the vehicle are camping related, especially these days with all the electronics.

 

[Jeaniethecali]

As far as I am aware and have been told, there is No PDI ( Pre-delivery inspection ) regarding the camping side of the vehicle. They do not test camper 12v or 240v systems, fridge, Parking Heater, 12v electric sockets, inverter roof hydraulics etc, etc.
They only PDI the base vehicle.

That sounds about right. Like I said, it came with a broken fridge and now this.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

That sounds about right. Like I said, it came with a broken fridge and now this.

If you report the issue to the dealer, chances are that you will have to wait quite a while for them to book you in to identify the fault, and then will make another appointment to fix / replace to fault.

Such issues just devalue the term on the warranty. You should ask VW to extend the warranty on the items (ie fridge) that you were unable to use whilst waiting for the fix.

 

[Jeaniethecali]

If you report the issue to the dealer, chances are that you will have to wait quite a while for them to book you in to identify the fault, and then will make another appointment to fix / replace to fault.

Such issues just devalue the term on the warranty. You should ask VW to extend the warranty on the items (ie fridge) that you were unable to use whilst waiting for the fix.

I've been down that road. The dealer wasn't interested... basically said items are covered under warranty and I should be glad about that.
Complained to VW commercial customer services who eventually offered me a £300 credit to spend within the network.

 

[Trojax]

I've been down that road. The dealer wasn't interested... basically said items are covered under warranty and I should be glad about that.
Complained to VW commercial customer services who eventually offered me a £300 credit to spend within the network.

This is an interesting reply as I have a stop start issue and VW Birmingham gave me a 2 m wait for an appointment to look at it, then I assume another wait to fix it where has my warranty gone !!!!

 

[Wannabecamperman]

Good Lord. I was about to finally, finally, pull the trigger on an immaculate sub-£60k MY2021 Cali and this thread and others are making me look harder at the Auto Campers L1H2 hightop with Heki roof light. Again.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Good Lord. I was about to finally, finally, pull the trigger on an immaculate sub-£60k MY2021 Cali and this thread and others are making me look harder at the Auto Campers L1H2 hightop with Heki roof light. Again.

I wouldn’t stress too much about the possibilities of things going wrong. Any campervan / motorhome is a hugely complex vehicle with in built compromises. You just need to find the good bits - like the ability to go camping on a whim in the wilds of Scotland, or Cornwall, or south of France etc. If you need help along the way, ive found there are many folks out there to give good advice and tips.

 

[Perfectos]

Forums are fantastic at highlighting potential issues and sorting problem.
problem is they highlight potential issues and give others problems!

all vehicles have problems, it’s just highlighted more on forums.
(that’s put the kiss on me )

 

[Mansfieldman750]

So the issues with our brand new Cali continue. After having to have a brand fridge fitted as the original never worked, we have now discovered that a seam in the roof fabric leaks water when it is raining.
Yesterday was the first day away in the van, when we have encountered rain. Whilst sat looking forward, I noticed water dripping onto the seats. When I looked up, water was running in all along the seam that runs along the bottom of the semi circle window (photo attached). The ledge at the bottom where the light switch is was soaked with water. My local van centre have stated that there is a £320 charge for investigating water ingress, which will be payable if the issue isn’t covered under warranty (I’m pretty sure it will be).
Has anyone else had issues with leaking bellows on an Ocean 6.1 with the new fabric?

View attachment 108249

I’m not being funny but the zip in that photo looks open to me ( not the half circle zip for the side flap )
Big zip for the panoramic front window that goes all the way down to van roof.

 

[Bobby D]

Fabsil Gold. Liquid version via a spray bottle. I used to do mine every year. One year I forgot and it leaked bad in horizontal rain....Went high top California after that, can't be doing with sleeping in a tent anymore, too noisy, not good in high winds and leak.

 

[Wannabecamperman]

Fabsil Gold. Liquid version via a spray bottle. I used to do mine every year. One year I forgot and it leaked bad in horizontal rain....Went high top California after that, can't be doing with sleeping in a tent anymore, too noisy, not good in high winds and leak.

This is precisely why I think I have decided to try to find a high top. The main issue is that while there are LOADS on the continent, (I adore the high top Club Joker with it's ingenious lower bed) there are so very few imported by VW to the UK.

When I look for good quality high top conversions, apart from the Leisuredrive Vivante conversions which have nasty folding driver and passenger seats and awful interior trim and curtains, there isn't much available. Hence my mention of the Auto Campers slimline L1H2 at just 240cms and though this is on a Transit, it seems to be the only one with decent build quality and trim, other than Jerba and theirs cost more than new Oceans!

 

[Kemmy california]

So the issues with our brand new Cali continue. After having to have a brand fridge fitted as the original never worked, we have now discovered that a seam in the roof fabric leaks water when it is raining.
Yesterday was the first day away in the van, when we have encountered rain. Whilst sat looking forward, I noticed water dripping onto the seats. When I looked up, water was running in all along the seam that runs along the bottom of the semi circle window (photo attached). The ledge at the bottom where the light switch is was soaked with water. My local van centre have stated that there is a £320 charge for investigating water ingress, which will be payable if the issue isn’t covered under warranty (I’m pretty sure it will be).
Has anyone else had issues with leaking bellows on an Ocean 6.1 with the new fabric?

View attachment 108249

We have exactly the same problem it’s going back to dealership Saturday.

 

[Christine Kirk]

Just returned from the West Coast of Ireland ( Atlantic way route) we had one night of driving rain and found the pop top fairly comfortable with the van back facing the wind direction, only ingress of water was along the side where the bedding had touched the canvas, not too bad to deal with!

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Just returned from the West Coast of Ireland ( Atlantic way route) we had one night of driving rain and found the pop top fairly comfortable with the van back facing the wind direction, only ingress of water was along the side where the bedding had touched the canvas, not too bad to deal with!

Internal isotop would prevent wicking / wet bedding

 

[.Billy Ocean.]

So the issues with our brand new Cali continue. After having to have a brand fridge fitted as the original never worked, we have now discovered that a seam in the roof fabric leaks water when it is raining.
Yesterday was the first day away in the van, when we have encountered rain. Whilst sat looking forward, I noticed water dripping onto the seats. When I looked up, water was running in all along the seam that runs along the bottom of the semi circle window (photo attached). The ledge at the bottom where the light switch is was soaked with water. My local van centre have stated that there is a £320 charge for investigating water ingress, which will be payable if the issue isn’t covered under warranty (I’m pretty sure it will be).
Has anyone else had issues with leaking bellows on an Ocean 6.1 with the new fabric?

View attachment 108249

Sorry to read you are having issues with your new van.

We also have the new bellows fabric and discovered it leaks in the same place as yours. This was the first time it had got wet and the leaks started within an hour of the rain starting. The rain wasn’t heavy, certainly not driving rain, and there was barely any wind.

I was hopeful the advice about a few wet / dry cycles will fix the issues, but after reading some of the later comments in this thread about the fabric type, I’m not so sure now.

 

[ThisIsNotMyRealName]

also got the same issue on our bellows, booked into VW in June. Brand new van, delivered March 2023. I assume MY23 given the lighter cream colour.

 

[.Billy Ocean.]

also got the same issue on our bellows, booked into VW in June. Brand new van, delivered March 2023. I assume MY23 given the lighter cream colour.

Be interested to hear how you get on please.